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I encourage my students to write down their thoughts in a journal after a lesson. This helps them remember what they learned and can be a nice resource to review when a roadblock pops up. It can also be a good record of the progress of a rider and horse. They can look back in the log and learn that they may have problems, but at least they are different problems.

Which brings up the mantra for any serious student of riding:. “We have not succeeded in answering all our problems. The answers we have found only serve to raise a whole set of new questions. In some ways we feel we are as confused as ever, but we believe we are confused on a higher level and about more important things.”

So even that is something. 🙂

Today I drove to Elkhorn, NE and trained with USHJA showjumping Hall of Famer Ex-MFH Jim Urban, who also, importantly, makes a hellova good bloody mary and cuts a dashing figure in hunt ball scarlets. At any rate, it was a 3 hour drive over, riding two horses for 2.5 hours total, cooling out, visiting with a friend at her farm, where I rode 2 more horses, then a 3 hour drive home, and I be a wee bit tired. So the highlights of the day in bullet points:

* All this time I’ve always been concerned with how long it takes the horse to warm up. Today I learned that it takes ME about 40 minutes before I am useful in the tack.